Iran launches missile, drone attacks on Bahrain, UAE

Five people were injured in Abu Dhabi after debris from an intercepted Iranian missile fell near the Khalifa Economic Zones, Reuters reported.

Authorities earlier said two fires broke out early Saturday in the same area following the fall of missile debris, adding that emergency crews were working to contain the blaze.

Multiple explosions were reported across several Iranian cities on Friday including Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, Zanjan, Kermanshah and Bushehr, according to Iranian media and citizen journalists.

In Tehran, loud blasts were heard in numerous neighborhoods, including Darabad, Pasdaran, areas near Elm-o-Sanat University, around Mehrabad Airport, Shadabad, Shahrak-e Gharb, Saadat Abad, Punak, Nararmak and Chitgar. Local reports said at least five powerful explosions occurred in the Heravi district, with power outages affecting some residential areas.

Additional explosions were reported near Lavizan’s Shian Park, while in neighboring Alborz province, blasts were heard in Hashtgerd, Garmdareh and Qods City. Reports also indicated heavy bombardment sounds in Isfahan.

The United States could soon position more than 17,000 ground troops in and around the Middle East in a major military escalation linked to the ongoing conflict with Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.

If approved by President Donald Trump, the deployment would add around 10,000 additional soldiers to forces already active in the region, signaling a possible shift toward expanded ground operations against Iranian targets.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that US operations have effectively destroyed Iran’s air force, naval capabilities, and command structure, leaving the country “leaderless” and its military largely inoperable.

“Now they’re 100% dead. They have 22 mine droppers. The mine droppers, 22, all 22 are gone. So I guess they can drop mines, but they’re gonna have to take them out by a rowboat, ’cause they don’t have any boats. Their air force is dead, totally, completely dead. It’s out of business, no planes left at all. Their anti‑aircraft and communications capabilities are totally dismantled and dead. Their leaders are all dead. Other than that, I think they’re doing quite well," Trump said.

“No, their leaders are dead. Their supreme leader is no longer supreme. He’s dead. His son is either dead or in very bad shape, ’cause nobody’s heard from him. I think he says, ‘Just keep me out of this.’ This is the only country where nobody wants to lead. There’s nobody who would like to lead Iran. ‘Please raise your hand,’ a big audience, to say, ‘Who would like to be our leader? Dead salary.’ Nobody wants to," Trump added.

American forces are targeting Iran’s weapons stockpiles, missile and drone production sites, and naval assets at an unprecedented scale, Trump said on Friday in Miami.

“We’re crushing Iran’s weapons stockpiles, destroying their missiles and drone factories at levels nobody ever thought was possible. And turning the defense industrial base into nothing, Iran’s navy is gone," Trump added.

"It’s all sunk at the bottom of the Gulf and elsewhere, did you see the attack submarine that we have going after one of their boats? It was called the Suleimani. It was the pride of their fleet, but this attack submarine goes like 60 miles an hour, they say. I never saw anything, and it caught them in about two minutes. And that was the end of the Suleimani," he said.